ANIMAL HOARDING: Number of farm animals found inside an unkempt home

es Moines police say they discovered farm animals inside a home they went to as they investigated another matter.

Officers went to the house on Sunday, the 20^th of March and found the door ajar. Police say a makeshift kennel with two pigs was found in the kitchen and two rabbits were in a closet. They also found a cage on a bedroom dresser that had several chickens in it. A Styrofoam container with as many as 15 eggs in it was under a lamp.

Police say the carpet had numerous stains. Dirty clothes and garbage was strewn about and cat feces were found throughout the house.

A 5-year-old girl living at the house was turned over to her grandparents. No charges have been filed..." More

Injured firefighter speaks out about dangers of hoarding

By: Jennifer Parks

TEMPE, AZ - Tempe fire captain Mike Kuehl looks like he suffered a bad sun burn, but the burns on his face could have taken his life.

Kuehl says he was putting on his fire gear in the doorway of a Tempe home Friday when an explosion rocked the house, located near Minton Drive and College Avenue.

"I'd never been shot with a shotgun, but it felt like getting pelted with a bunch of rocks or BBs on the side of your head," he said. "I could tell initially my ear got burned."

Nearly four days later you can still see the burns on his face..." More & video

Duval County Animal Care and Protective Services Busy with Animal Hoarding Cases

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Investigating animal hoarding cases is keeping officials with Animal Care and Protective Services in Duval County busy.

The reason for the increase is the change in the county's animal control ordinance, said Scott Trebatoski, the division chief with animal care.

They no longer have to wait for the situation to escalate to an animal cruelty case before investigating, he said.

In the last three months, since the change went into effect, Trebatoski said an extra 300 animals have been brought into the shelter, because of animal hoarding..." More & video

Pet rescue transports give hope, worry to animal shelters

By: Tom Breen

KINSTON, N.C. — Every day, hundreds of animals are taken in trucks, vans and cars from overcrowded Southern shelters, where euthanasia rates sometimes reach 70%, to states in the North, where puppies and kittens are not as plentiful.

It's a labor of love for those whose main goal is getting the animals off death row, but it can also have a dark side ranging from unscrupulous operators looking to make a quick buck to well-meaning incompetence.

Animal advocates say the transports are here to stay, thanks to a supply and demand imbalance between the South and the North, where spay and neuter programs are far more widespread. These advocates want to create standards to ensure pets aren't taken from overburdened shelters to an even worse fate.

"If you could take a truckload of dogs and cats up to Connecticut, and somebody is going to pay you $100 a dog, you're going to get as many animals as you can on that truck," said Kimberly Alboum, director of the North Carolina chapter of the Humane Society of the United States.

"It's quite a market at this point, and it's really creating problems as far as unscrupulous transporters and unscrupulous rescuers," she said.

The worst-case scenario for Alboum is a situation like the one described by police in North Carolina's Rockingham County last October. Sheriff's deputies charged Thomas and Amber Adkins with misdemeanor animal cruelty after finding around 90 dogs on the couple's property..." More

Disturbing Animal Hoarding Case

Cops find dozens of dogs and cats living in deplorable conditions..." Video

Ind. pets suffer from hoarders, poor conditions

Although a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy and some type of psychopharmacological intervention is typically recommended to people who collect animals in staggering numbers, treatment is often difficult with a low rate of success.

Thus, a recidivism rate among animal hoarders that is nearly 100 percent.

In "the worst case I'd ever seen," Lucas recalls going to a South Bend house five years ago, where a man was found hoarding "70 to 80 cats."

After removing most of the cats, Animal Control worked with the man to reduce the number to the legal limit of three, then left him to tend to his pets.

They followed up a year later to see how the man was doing.

"We found about 45 cats," Lucas says.

Although the Humane Society urges jail time for repeat animal-hoarding offenders, the usual consequence involves a fine and/or mandatory counseling.

Not that any legal or personal consequences mattered to Vicki Moon, who was recently jailed and charged with 17 counts of animal cruelty after authorities removed 17 dogs, 15 dead dogs and three dead cats from her home in an unincorporated area of Lake County near Schneider.

Detective Michelle Weaver, who executed a search warrant on Moon's home, told the Times of Northwest Indiana that neighbors said Moon had been living out of her car for years because the animals destroyed her house. .." More

Dead Animals Found In Cedar Rapids Garage; Woman Charged With Abuse

By Jeff Raasch

EDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Criminal charges have been filed against a woman whose animals were seized from her Cedar Rapids home last month.

Jennifer Wood, 36, has been charged with 35 counts of animal abuse and two counts of unhealthy and unsanitary conditions after officers took 32 dogs, two cats and a parrot from her home at 308 30th St. Dr. SE on Feb. 17. A dead dog and dead cat also were found in bags in her garage, authorities said.

Animal Control and Care Manager Diane Webber said charges were filed late Thursday afternoon. She said Wood’s attorney called her Wednesday, but Wood’s whereabouts are still unknown.

Webber said the city will seek to recover costs for veterinary care and shelter fees for the animals that were seized, which currently amounts to $25,000. She said the animals are continuing to recover.

“When I said before that this puts a huge burden on the shelter, I wasn’t kidding,” Webber said. “Tåhe amount of veterinary care they need is just mind-blowing.”

Webber said in order for the criminal charges to hold any weight, Wood must be served. Rumors have swirled that Wood is now out-of-state, and Webber said she is considering options to track her down..." More & video